ORGANIC VEGETABLE GROWING MASTERCLASSES
Hands On, Practical Workshops ​
- run by very experienced Mastergardeners and Organic Farmers
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Introduction to Organic Market Gardening
- Enterprise Planning and Organic Choices - 2 days
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Working in the Field - 1 day
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Plant Propagation - 1 day
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Irrigation - 1 day
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Harvesting and Post Harvest - 1 day
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We Are Working On Dates For The Next Series Of Workshops
send an email expressions of interest by clicking here​​​
About The Presenter - Joyce Wilkie
Trained as scientists Joyce Wilkie and Michael Plane changed direction in 1972 and turned part of their property ‘Allsun’, a bush block near Gundaroo, NSW, into a small, diverse, organic farm selling vegetables, fruit, eggs and pork into Canberra. Mentored by Eliot Coleman (author of The New Organic Grower) and Joel Salatin, Joyce and Mike pioneered modern, efficient, organic vegetable growing in Australia stacking poultry and latterly pigs in rotation on top of the vegetable beds. They turned a few millimetres of degraded top soil into the half meter of fertile loam that exists in the Allsun garden today.
Joyce is an experienced teacher. Skills learnt training as an academic have been used to run workshops, field days and masterclasses She has also mentored a number of aspiring market gardeners who have successfully gone on to run their own farming operations.
In 2020 when SAGE was looking for a mentor/manager to start Stepping Stone Farm she jumped at the opportunity. She managed the farm through its establishment years, mentoring both the interns and volunteers and is now concentrating on teaching and uploading her years of knowledge and experience onto the web.
​MASTERCLASS
​CONTENT
​Introduction to Organic Market Gardening
Enterprise Planning and
Organic Choices
2 days
Defining Organic Farming
Feeding the Soil
Mulching
Clean Cultivation
Green Manuring
Why the Eliot Coleman/Jean-Martin
Fortier approachGeneral
Layout
Base Maps & Overlays
Water Reticulation
Management Systems
Using Animals
Powered tillage options
Building raised beds
When to work on the flat
Marketing
What to grow
How much to grow
When to plant
Computer application options
Enterprise Planning
Rotations & Bed Plan
Designing a simple rotation
Planning a more complicated rotation
Time Management
​Working in the Field
1 day
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Farm Safety
General WHS
Working with and around tractors
Tractor maintenance & tips
Raised Beds – Using a tractor
Getting rid of spent crop and/or weeds
and green manures
Using a slasher
Using a flail mower on a walk behind tractor
Using a 4-wheeled tractor to make the beds Using a 2-wheeled tractor to make beds
Changing tools on a walk-behind tractor
and a 4-wheeled tractor
Deep, non-inversion tillage
using a ripper on a 4-wheeled tractor
vs using a broadfork in a small garden
Changing tools on the 4-wheeled tractor
Changing tools on a 2-wheeled tractor
Dealing with weeds
Mulching
Wheel hoes
Long handled hoes
Raised Beds – Theory
When to use raised beds
When to work on the flat
Tarps/solarisation
Using animals
Making a raised bed by hand
Wheel hoes and furrower attachments
Hand cultivators & rakes
Flame weeding & stale seed beds
Down row spacing
Row marking
Transplanting and Seeding
Paper Pot planter
Direct seeding
By hand – large seeds & using drip lines
Jang Seeder – small seeds & overhead
irrigation
Undersowing
Importance of accurate planting
Plant Propagation
1 day
Potting Mix
Commercial potting mixes
Compost/Worm Castings
Coco Peat/Vermiculite/Perlite/Peat Moss
Sand
Fertilisers
Soil Blocking Mix vs potting mix
Containers
Pots
Cell trays
Paper pots
Pot alternatives/Soil blocks
Bottom Heat & how to use it
Seed sowing
Tomatoes, eggplants, capsicums, chillies
Onions, leeks
Direct sowing vs growing seedlings
Pricking up
Monocotyledons vs dicotyledons
Dividing perennials
Sourcing Seed
Open pollinated
F1 hybrids vs GMO
Seed saving
Watering
Post sowing fertilizing
Plant health and Pest management
Fungi
Insects
Irrigation
1 day
Water regulation & licensing
Rivers
Dams
Bores
Pumping & water storage
Pumps
Windmills
Tanks
Main Water line Design
Sprinklers
Wobblers
Mini wobblers
Micro Sprinklers
Sumi hoses
Misters
Drip Irrigation
Drip hose
Soaker hoses
Spacing
Fertigation
Drainage
Understanding what happens to water in soil
When to turn the water on
When to turn it off
Scheduling irrigation
Timers
Solenoid valves and automatic control
systems
Four Irrigation Lessons
1. Drip – shorten the interval between
irrigation events
2. Sprinkler – lengthen the duration of each
irrigation event
3. Nitrate leaching when the crop is young
4. Misjudging the onset of exponential
plant growth
Harvesting and Post Harvest
1 day
Food Safety Considerations
Microgreens
Small Mixed Greens
Large Leafy greens
Large Cabbage family vegetables
Squash & Cucumbers
Peas & Beans
Root Vegetables
Tomatoes, Capsicums & Eggplants
Storage Crops
Pumpkins
Alliums
Value Adding
Bottling & Preserving
Braiding Garlic
Reviews
“Joyce Wilkie’s Organic Market Gardening Masterclasses are a fantastic introduction to setting up a productive, well-organised market garden. Taken as five modules totalling 7 days, they would also suit someone interested in just some of the individual modules. Starting with planting and progressing to working in the field, plant propagation, irrigation and finally harvesting and post-harvest, they cover a large amount of information, accompanied by extensive notes and, best of all, practical field work that really helps to reinforce the teaching. Joyce is an inspiring, skilled educator, making the learning material accessible and enjoyable. This is definitely a hands-on course! Joyce’s background in science really adds value to her teaching and encourages participants to engage with the processes of soil care and plant and food production. Her amazing capacity as a farming entrepreneur underpins all that she does, so that market gardening can be a sustainable, rewarding endeavour for those embarking on this journey. Joyce is incredibly knowledgeable, generous and calm. She teaches with humour and is a great cook too! All questions are treated with respect and she makes great connections with her participants. I thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of this course and have been inspired and invigorated in pursuing my gardening life.”
Cate Wikner
2024​